How MySpace Makes Me Literate

Yesterday, I got a message through MySpace from an old fraternity brother from college. Other than answering his message, I took a look at his profile. Scott is a highly intelligent guy, so when I took a look at his list of fav reads, I got some ideas. I took down two or three titles that sounded like they'd be right up my alley and they have been added to my "to read" list; something that grows longer by the day!
Earlier today, Ii was looking around for some other old friends from college and came across another list of favorite books, this time, though, they were from a girl I used to camp with. When two or three of her favs matched with my taste, I wrote every other title down that I haven't already read. Thus, with two quick views of profiles, I have nearly a dozen new titles to check out. Who'd have thought a web site that wastes so much time could, in fact, end up making all off us smarter?

Tired Kids

In an effort to get to know my soon-to-be-new home, I spent some time watching an Orange Co, FL town hall meeting on local TV. The mayor of Orlando(sorry, haven't learned his name yet) made a comment about the crime in O-Town. As we all know, juevenile crime is usually rooted in boredom-if there's nothing to do, kids will find some trouble to get into. Thus, the mayor is a proponent of after school programs, midnight basketball leagues, those sorts of youth-aimed activities that have proven successful in other parts of the country. The mayor brought it a bit closer to home by saying that when he was a kid, his mother had a montra: A tired boy is a good boy.
So, being human, I immediately thought of myself. I am NOT a good boy when I'm tired. Iin fact, I'm pretty much a grade A jerk when fatigue starts to set in. I guess I'm sorta like an infant in that way! But, his point is well-taken: give kids stuff to do, they'll keep their noses clean.

Link to Yesterday's Newsletter

If you read my newsletter about the "Walk A Mile In Her Shoes" program put on by Saginaw Valley State University, you may be one of the folks who commented on what a great idea they had. Well, it's a great program, but the walk is really the brainchild of another. You can find out about the history and hosting one of these events at:

www.walkamileinhershoes.com

Do Killers Read Billboards?

In Newark, NJ, the teacher's union has put up billboards reading, "Stop the Killing!" after 2006 saw a record 106 murders. Businesses in Newark have complained that the adverts are driving away business. Frankly, if I were speaking in Newark, I doubt I'd want to be a guest of a hotel with such a sign on the property...would you? Second thing that struck me is this: Why is a teacher's union spending $$$ on billboards which aren't(I assume) real effective in persuading a gangbanger from pulling the trigger? Don't teachers' unions have more important things to purchase than advertising space? And when is a potential murderer going to be heading out to do a killin' and say, "Ya know, that billboard is right! I don't think I'll blow Johnny away after all!"
This whole concept is just stupid. Am I the only one who thinks this is a prime example of morons who control the purse strings?

Disability 411

A few weeks ago, I posted a link to an interview I'd done with Ron Graham, the administrator of Access Ability blog. That podcast has now been edited and passed along to the Disability 411 blog and podcast and can be found at:

38_Disability411_MarcusEngel

for more info on Disability 411, visit:
Disability411 Podcast - http://disability411.jinkle.com/

for more info on Ron's work, visit:
http://www2.blogger.com/profile/09183453197257493485

Enjoy!

The Nicest Home in the Projects

Last night, I got sucked into one of those lame plastic surgery medical shows. Only this time, it wasn't being done on some anonymous housewife from the 'burbs, but on a quazi-celebrity. Remember The Apprentice and the girl, Omarosa?(Yes, I reallize I spelled this horribly...well, actually, it might bbe right since I can barely pronounce her name, much less spell it). Anyway, she was the villian on The Apprentice and was known for her 'tude. Not only was the ex-Apprentice star going under the knife, but she was going in with her mother who, too, would be privvy to the sharpthings docs use. Now, as on all good medical plastic surgery shows, the producer tries to make you feel kinda sorry for the person going under the knife. Makes sense, otherwise we'd just always remember this chick as the nasty mean girl! So, the producer has the two beauties-to-be talk about their lives together. One thing Omarosa said that struck me was when she talked of her childhood. Her father was violently killed when she was young and her mom moved the kids to the projects, worked two or three jobs and did everything she could to help the family survive. Omarosa said(and I paraphrase), "We lived in the hood, but we weren't 'the hood.' Mom showed us that we could live in a place, but we didn't have to have the mindset of that place. So, we had the cleanest house and the best yard of anyone else in the projects."
Friends, the "villian" shows a little character here, doesn't she? We all have environments that are tough to get out of, but environment doesn't equate to where one is in his/her mind.

Confessions of a Theta

Recently, there's been a story in the news about a sorority at DePauw University in Indiana. This article from a writer with the Chicago Tribune sums up my feelings exactly. If you're not familiar with this story, I trust the author will give you the high points. Props to Angela (the writer) for such a great article and mindset!


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-070317theta-perspective,1,1699704.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed

Bacchus Area #7 Conference

Just returned from the Bacchus Area #7 Conference held at Saginaw Valley State University. It's been a few years since I've been to the land of Wolverines, auto production and the hated Detroit Red Wings... but, with as great of a time as I had at SVSU, I might switch hockey allegiance (okay, not really, but it WAS a great time!)...

Special thanks to Tony Thompson for the opportunity to present to such a great group of students. Also thanks to my new friends from Notre Dame and Western Kentucky University! It was great having dinner with you guys!

If you're a college student in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana or Kentucky, please consider getting involved with Bacchus and especially the area #7... you'll surely find a quality group when working with these folks!

New Press Release!

If you've read my autobiography, "After This...", you may remember the scene where I met Ron, a student at the Seeing Eye, Inc. while I was training with Dasher. Ron and I soon learned we had lost our sight in two separate car wrecks - but wrecks that took place on the same night, 2000 miles away from one another. Well, as we've stayed close over the years, our careers have similar tracks. A press release was released recently that discusses what we individually do, and you can find it at:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/03/prweb513138.htm

Showing Drunk People to Kids

I caught just a few minutes of The O'Reilly Factor tonight, but those moments gave me a lot of food for thought. Dennis Miller was Bill's guest and the topic of discussion was the wildness and orgies and intoxication of college spring break. Keep in mind their discussion was littered with pics of scantily clad co-eds doing beer bongs and shots. Miller said he took his 16 year old to Austin, TX for the kid's high school spring break. Not to let the son get drunk, but in order to expose him to alcohol consumption. My first question was that he took him to Austin-a kick butt city, yes, but not exactly the hot spot for college students nationwide to travel to for their own spring break. So, Miller took the kid into throngs of drunks all partying it up. At first I was a little appalled, but his logic made good sense.(I paraphrase here), "In two years, my son will be going on spring break himself. I want him to see this through sober eyes and when I may still have a little inffluence over him."
Wow. Just wow! Think about it-most people who saw spring break forthe first time did it with beer goggles wrapped around their eyes. But Miller's son got to see the drunken craziness through the eyes of a 16 year old sober kid-a kid who had the protection of a parent nearby. And that's gotta make some sort of impression. There aren't too many people who would walk onto Bourbon Street for the first time, sober as a judge, and see partiers with piss and vomit all over their clothes and think, "Wow! I want to do that!" Same story for people having to do the "half-carry" of their pals down the street. Drunks, when seen through sober eyes, are really, really pathetic. And, while upon first hearing, I thought Miller's idea wasn't so hot, when it all sank in, I think the man gave his kid a lesson he couldn't have gotten anywhere else.

I've Sunk To A New Low

Tonight, I watched American Idol. Not only do I hate reality TV, I loathe American Idol. Do I sound harsh? Let me explain... See, I find it really sad that most Americans can't name their senators, but they spend hours every week chit chatting with their co-workers about how drunk Paula Abdul was. I mean, which is more important-trying to understand the basics of important things(i.e., world politics, the struggle between Islamic extremists and the modern world, the state of the economy, etc.) or how off-pitch some yahoo from Milwaukee was on last night's episode. Yes, I realize this makes me a snob. I don't care. Friends have told me they love Idol because every person on there has the chance to realize his/her dream! Fair enough...except that many of the contestants are already realizing their dream of being a pro vocalist. True, they may not be selling out stadiums for solo shows, but they aren't exactly like your local bus driver who happens to have a great voice and gets a chance to show off. And really, I think the main reason so many people love this show isn't the singers at all...but because Simon is such a harsh, critical jerk. When someone sucks, he has no problem saying, "You suck!" Granted, if someone wants to go on national television and play the fool, who am I to complain?
So, why did I watch tonight? Well, my future sister in law is a performer. One of her backup singers happens to be in the finals. Figured this was as good of time as any to lose my Idol virginity. And I did. And it was moderately entertaining...but now I'm off to counteract the damage that reality TV has done...anyone know where I can get a Wall Street Journal?

Nova Southeastern

Thanks to Nova Southeastern University for hosting me this evening! As if I need any more of a reason to come to Fort Lauderdale, you guys were a great group to hang out with! Special thanks to Arlene Giczkowski for being such a great client, for taking such an active interest in awareness and for being so ambitious to take on such a big week of events! Thanks to all who hung around and asked questions-feel free to shoot any more my way via E mail or MySpace! And, who'd have thunk I'd get to meet Miss America in the audience?! Will the benefits of this job never cease?!

What Are You? A Communist?

A couple of days ago, I was introduced to the friend of a friend. This was totally social, so I was just being my normal, potentially obnoxious self. Okay, not reallly, but I DO sometimes like to be a bit edgey when I meet new folks in social situations. This was no exception!
Upon our intro, the friend of my friend blurted out, "I don't like your dog!" To which I replied, "Good thing he's my dog and not yours then, eh?" Said person follows it up about how she used to like dogs, but then she got bit and now she's afraid of all dogs. I kinda sorta get this, but I still asked, "You don't like dogs? What are you? A Communist?" Why? Because I don't trust people who don't like dogs. I can understand being wary of strange dogs from events in one's past, but to just flat out not like dogs? Yeah, I don't trust those people.
So, as I thought about this, I was thinking about the ways I've been hurt in the past. My sight was taken by a 29 year old white male. Do I therefore steer clear of 29 year old caucasian men? No. Mainly because this woulda been pretty hard three years back when I -WAS- a 29 year old white male. And then there's that girl who broke my heart when I was a freshman in high school. Due to the emotional torment, do I now steer away from women? Hmm, why don't we ask my fiance? And then there was the businessman who bilked me out of several thousand dollars when I was just beginning my speaking career. Do I stay away from businessmen in the industry due to that one dude? Hardly since, well, I AM a businessman in the speakers' world.
Again, if someone has a traumatic experience in the past, I can understand being wary of letting oneself get hurt again. But to categorize anything, anyone, any dog...well, it ranks right up there with communism: good in theory, bad in practice.

Irish

Okay, I'm not Irish. Not even close. I do, however, love the Pogues! And U2. And the goofy albums of Irish drinking songs! But tomorrow, everyone who can possibly be Irish will be celebrating St. Pat's. Including me. Irish culture goes hand in hand with strong drink. And in America, our dependence on transportation in private vehicles is as intertwined as Guiness and Bass Ale. Enjoy the festivities, but please be careful out there. If you're smart, you won't need the luck of the Irish to get home in one piece-just a little planning.

Bye Bye Mr. Hyde!

Some libraries around the country are taking the classics and, well, putting them on the B list. Fox News reported tonight from a library in Buffalo, NY that is shuffling their inventory of books around to keep their selections current. Thus, if any book hasn't been checked out in two years, they'll place that book in a separate storage area so as to make way for more popular reads.
Granted, I'm a businessman, so I often think about supply and demand, but one of the reasons great classic novels are being put in the back room is to make room for computer corrals. I'm kinda torn over this-I love the idea that anyone and everyone can have access to the net if they so choose, especially those who cannot afford their own machine and internet access. Therefore, the library is meeting the needs of those citizens...and, isn't this the sorta thing we pay taxes for?
But it just makes me sad that the great classics of the English language are seen as archaic and not worth the time of the public. This year, I'm keeping track of every book I read. Why? BBecause there is just so so so much great lit out there that I want to see what I've been skipping. And, if Mr. Hyde and his pal, Dr. Jekyll, aren't on that list? Well, there'd at least better be some Hemingway. Or Faulkner. Or Steinbeck. Or Dickinson. I hope there'll bbe some of the greats on your list, too.

Communication Skills from Cooter

When I was in high school, I held a job as a bona fide grease monkey. The Texaco along I-70 an hour outside of St. Louis was where I spent some of the hottest, dirtiest and funnest days of my teenage years. Being a service station in rural America, we saw everyone, Deadheads to church buses, farmers on John Deeres to mid-life crisis husbands in Lambroughinis and everything else under the sun. In the 18 months I worked at this location, I had the "privledge" to call the Highway Patrol no less than three times, too. Never a dull moment at the ol' station with the star!
So, being an old veteran of service stations, I was nostalgic when we were in a Tuffy automotive in Orlando today. The whole feel of aged grease on the floor combined with the clatter of air guns and lug nuts made me want to grab a case of 10W-40 and get to work!
However, as we waited for our car to be checked over, I witnessed one thing I did NOT want to experience again-idiotic customers. Picture this: a woman who seemed well into her 40s, talking with her husband on speaker phone. At her feet is a toddler who is being scolded for having bare feet on the lobby floor. As she explained to her husband(loudly I might add) how the car had started acting funny while she was running out for cigarettes, everyone in the lobbby could tell this was soon going to get ugly. After she ranted to her hubby about how she didn't have any diapers and the baby had (and I quote) "a poopy diaper", the mechanic working the desk started to explain to her what the probblem with the car was. The thing is, she wanted to hear none of it-all she could do was raise her voice and reitterate how every part in that car had just been replaced, they were all new, it shouldn't have probblems. The guy running the counter was an absolute master of communication. He let her spit her venom about how angry she was, justified her feelings by saying, "Right, right..." and nodding at whatever she said. Then, he simply explained to her something that is hard for folks to understand when they have no knowledge of cars-yet he did it in such a way I wish I would have known this when I had my hands on tires all day. He simply said, "Ma'am, you had parts replaced on your car. This is like if you go to the doctor for a cold and the doctor gives you medicine. If you wake up the next day with appendicitis, it had nothing to do with your cold. Same thing here. The new parts will cure the problems you were having, but this is a whole new problem." And, believe it or not, that shut her up...well, sorta. She still had to carry on for a while about how she needed a ride home, how the baby had a poopy diaper and how she needed to get her cigarettes out of the car. All the while, the mechanic at the desk was professional, articulate and, even though he had every right NOT to be, he was polite and courteous.
Speaking from experience, myself included, mechanics aren't generally known for their communication skills. And yet? Even though she'll never know just what a quality employee this guy is, the rest of us sitting in that lobby are now sold customers.

Old School

A couple of days ago, I received a message via my MySpace account (www.myspace.com/marcusengel) from Lindsay Capobianco, a teacher at my alma mater, Montgomery County R-II High School. She and another teacher, Julie Cobb-Ellis are using my book, After This..., as required reading for their classes. Apparently, the students are digging it and, if teenagers are purposefully trying to read my book, that is about the biggest compliment I can receive! I'd just like to publically thank Mrs. Ellis-Cobb and Ms. Capobianco for believing my words have relevance to the lives of their students. As always, whether you're a student in one of these classes or anyone else, I love to get feedback from readers! Drop a note to:

marcus@marcusengel.com

An Unefficiant Emotion

If you're a fan of mysteries, the CSI type, check out Jeffrey Deavers. If you've seen the major motion pic, "The Bone Collector" with Denzel Washington and she who has adopted half of Africa, then you've seen Deavers' work. His Lincoln Rhyme series features a quadraplegic detective, conveniently named Lincoln Rhyme, who is an expert in forensics. Due to Rhyme's disability, he has to explain all he knows to his rookie detectives which is quite helpful if you happen not to be an expert in forensics!
Anywho, currently reading the latest Rhyme novel, "The Cold Moon." In this book, I was struck by one of the murdering characters, a figure known as "The Watchmaker." Said Watchmaker is meticulous, exact and deadly-exactly what you want in a good murder character! Today, as the police were about to catch The Watchmaker, he was puzzled by how they had found him out-but he did not get angry. To a person with such a mind for details, he knew getting angry accomplishes nothing. I love his quote, "Anger is an inefficiant emotion." He's right. And, even though we know that on an intellectual level, it's tough to control. Even though this character may be on the way to murdering bunches of people, I've gotta give him some props for giving me a little something to think about!

Renaissance Financial

On Friday, March 9, I was invited to present a keynote for the employees of Renaissance Financial in St. Louis. You guys were an awesome bunch of folks to work with and I can't thank you enough for your interest-even after a long, LONG day of speakers and information! Special thanks to Greg Keller, Tim Walkenhorst, Carrie Serra and Shannon Kuhlman for helping to make everything run so smoothly! Also, special thanks to Renaissance Financial itself for purchasing mass quantities of my books to distribute to employees and clients!

Thanks again!

Thanks, Karyn!

When I was fresh out of college and just starting into this speaking thing, there was a speaker in my NSA St. Louis chapter who'd just received her Certified Speaking Professional designation. Karyn Buxman was larger than life to my newbie self. Now, several years later, Karyn is helping me get my feet more firmly planted into the realms of health care. I had a phone convo with her yesterday in which she gave me pearls of wisdom from a veteran, tried and true standpoint. For those bits of knowledge, I want to publically thank her and provide my readers with her web site:

www.humorx.com

Karyn is an R.N. and a fabulous, fabulous speaker. Her topics and information can be found on her site, and for my dollar, she's one of the funniest humorists out there! Check her out...and thanks, Karyn!

A Crucifix, Holy Water, $100 and a Nerd

Yep, it took all the above listed items to exorcise the demonic entity that invaded my laptop recently. Okay, maybe not the crucifix and holy water, but I'd be no where without the help of my computer support guys. And the issue was a single corrupted file. So, if you've sent an E mail over the last few weeks, there's a real strong chance I didn't receive it. Please re-send if you didn't get a reply! Thanks...and sorry for the inconvenience!

Pride and Pennies

I sold my house today. And as of April 26 when the new owners will take possession, I'll officially be homeless. Well, not really, but I will officially no longer be a Missourian.
This almost didn't happen today. Why??? Because yours truly has moments of jackassedness. And one of those came today.
See, I wanted a certain price for my house. The comps show it to be worth that much, the condition of the home is pristine and the updates and maintenence don't hurt either. Well, I forgot to remember one key rule: look at the big picture. See, when the buyer offered me $500 less than what I thought would be my minimum, I turned it down and counter offered. Bad idea. I mean, really, what's $500 when this is the cost of a house? Good luck finding many houses in America today where $500 will make or break the price of a single family home. Alas, I got all proud and stupid that this house, MY HOME, was worth X amount. No matter what. But what about the ease? What about the fact I met and like the buyers? What about the fact I can take the profits and invest them for a few months and make that $500 while I'm searching for our new home in Florida? These are things that got in the way...the old saying, "spend a dime trying to save a nickle" comes to mind. Which, when you look at the big picture, all boils down to pride-and I have really, REALLY worked at not being proud over the last few years. Luckily, after I turned down their offer, my human calculator, Marvelyne(and what a hottie calculator she is!)showed me that it really was a good deal. Thus, I called the agent back, groveled and swallowed my pride. And now? I'm on my way to being homeless! And I couldn't be happier!

Five Blonde Haired, Blue Eyed Women...I Know Them All

Today, I got into a discussion over disabilities. My conversational partner listened to the podcast of the interview I posted a day or so ago and this spurred our conversation. In the interview, I made the point that, even though I often work in the field of disability awareness, I am not, repeat NOT, an expert on disabilities!
Often, when I'm presenting on disability awareness, I'll get questions like, "Um, I know a girl who is in a wheelchair in my class. She sometimes has trouble on the ramp getting into the building. Is it insulting if I ask her to help?"
My answer? How the HE double hockey sticks should I know? Do I appear to be her? Nope! I'm just me! And I certainly cannot answer for anyone else!
As an individual with a disability, I often get categorized with other individuals with disabilities. Fine, but let's not forget that every Asian American is NOT the same as every other Asian American. This is precisely the pidgeon-holing I find so prevelant. It doesn't make sense that anyone would say, "I know a guy who enjoys spicy debate. Bob, Jim, Steve, Fred, you're all guys-you must enjoy spicy debate, too!" Duh!
A friend made an interesting point: It's as if I have a friend wwho is blonde haired and blue eyed. Due to the fact I know this person well, does it make sense I should treat every other blonde haired, blue eyed person like her? No, of course not! So why do we do it with disabilities?"
Whatever the reason, we all do this. Whether it's lack of exposure to other cultures, genders, classes, etc. etc. etc., we all do it-but we should really, really try to treat individuals AS individuals, not the sub-group to which they belong

Safety Rally at MO Capital Tomorrow

As you know, I'm a HUGE proponent of traffic safety. Everything from anti-DWI campaigns, to youth driving education to things like tomorrow's event at the MO state house in Jefferson City. Tomorrow's rally is designed to persuade legislators to vote in favor of a bill that would make Missouri a state with a primary seat belt law. Meaning, an officer can ticket someone for the primary violation of not wearing their safety belt. Now, a tickeet can only be issued if the driver is performing some other illegal action, then the lack of a belt is on top of their other ticket.
This has been debated for years-seriously, we were trying to get this bill passed when I was a college intern eeight years ago. It seems the time is now! So, if you're a fan of keeping your loved ones alive, please consider heading up to Jeff. City tomorrow to show your support for the Missouri Safety Council's efforts to help pass this bill.

Marcus Interviewed by Access Ability Blog Admin

As promised, here is the link for the podcast interview that will (hopefully) be posted on the Access Ability (http://accessability.blogspot.com/) blog.

This link is only good for a couple of days, so chop chop!

http://www7.sendthisfile.com/d.jsp?t=03E9acGhr8Pnj4ePj6lIlixQ

Accessability Blog

If you've read my autobiography, you're familiar with my buddy down in Houston, Ron Graham. Ron has worked in higher education, specifically assisting those with disabilities for the last several years. This has led him into a new project, the Access Ability blog:

www.accessability.blogspot.com

This morning, Ron interviewed me for a podcast which will either be aired on Access Ability, or on another disability related blog/podcasting service. Before that, though, I wanted to give you a link to Access Ability and give props to Ron's work. When the podcast is available, I'll link it from Engel's Ensights.

Kurt What?

If you've taken a look at the new blog quote that kicks off Engel's Ensights,you'll see the name Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. If you're not a fan of literature, you may not recognize this name. Yet, Vonnegut's name is one associated with some of the most prolific literature of the 20th century.
I first heard of Vonnegut in high school, but never read him until after I lost my sight. "The Slaughterhouse Five", possibly Vonnegut's best known work, was on the list of banned books back in the dark ages when people did such things. So, as a red blooded all American guy, I want to read what people do NOT want me to read! So, I did! Then read "Bluebeard" and several other of Vonnegut's works, all within a few months. Today, I was all nostalgic for the days when I had more time to read for fun and I thought how it'd been years since I'd picked up anything by Vonnegut. If you decide to check him out, be prepared-his books weren't banned for nothing!

Clifford the Big Red Dog Rocks!

So, after the last 10 plus hours of sending out E mails to potential clients, I wanted to dull my mind with some mindless TV. So, nothing beats cartoons, right? First station I came to was showing re-runs of Clifford. I heard a familiar word come from the TV-a word that I usually hear coming from my own mouth, but not from anyone else. The word? Hup up. Okay, maybe that's two words. Anyway, "Hup up" is the phrase I say to Carson when he needs to pay more attention. It can also be used if I want Carson to pick up the pace a bit. And finally, hup up is also said when Carson walks up to an obstacle like stairs, but isn't quite close enough for me to find the stair with my foot. So, imagine my surprise when I heard "hup up" from Clifford!
Well, in this episode, Clifford makes a new friend, B.B. B.B. is a guide dog and her owner, Jenny, maneuvers around Clifford's neighborhood; but Clifford and his doggie friends don't understand why B.B. ignores them sometimes. As Clifford and friends learn, B.B. is working when she's in harness and knows her job is to pay attention to the master.
Gotta say, it really made my day to see such a positive lesson crafted in the form of a cartoon! Thanks, Clifford, for teaching our little friends about guide dog etiquette!

Observe This!

Last weekend, I got into a discussion over how stand up comedy has changed over the years. One of the top new comedians is Dane Cook and, if you've heard him, you kknow why! One thing that has always struck me is howdifferent comedians can do such different things, yet all are funny. Yet, if Margaret Cho tried to do Steve Martin's comedy, she'd sound like an idiot. And if Steve Martin tried to do Mitch Headberg's comedy, then HE'd sound like an idiot. Alas, I digress...other than maybe with the parting idea that you can only do what YOU can do-not what everyone else does.
Anywho, back to Dane Cook. The discussion revolved around how back in the 70s, Richard Pryor and the comedians of the day told jokes. Well, according to a NY Times article a few years ago, folks, the joke is dead. No one in their right mind walks around telling knock knock jokes or "So, a rabbi, a priest and a midget walk into a bar" jokes. Now, it seems, Dane Cook has tapped into something most all of us can relate to: observing ourselves, our own eccentricitiesand the oddities of human life. One of the folks I was discussing this with asked...how long can that last? Richard Pryor, while still funny, well, his style of comedy just isn't the "in" thing any more. Will the same happen to Dane Cook's brand of comedy? Well, Dane Cook will surely fade away after a while, but that observational comedy won't, I don't think. Why? Because we humans are very, very strange creatures. When someone breaks down our behaviors and then points them out, we begin to see just how goofy we are.